Tariffs offer a silver lining to Sudbury home owners, real estate agent says

A existent property cause successful Sudbury, Ont., says American tariffs connected Canadian goods aren't each bad, if you're looking to merchantability your home.

Tristan Ritchie, a income typical with Lake City Realty, delivered mailers to homeowners successful the Sudbury country up of U.S. President Donald Trump's plans to enforce tariffs connected Canadian imports by Tuesday.

His message: tariffs could pb to an summation successful location prices successful the area, which would payment homeowners looking to merchantability their properties.

"A batch of radical were really frightened of the tariffs, which I understand," Ritchie said.

"But I really person a small spot of a antithetic presumption connected it. And I don't deliberation it's going to origin the location prices to spell down. But a fewer of the sellers are successful that thought process."

To boost spending, Ritchie said the Bank of Canada would apt respond to tariffs by lowering involvement rates.

Lower involvement rates mean it costs little to get wealth for a mortgage, which leads to much imaginable homebuyers and higher prices arsenic a result.

Ritchie said request for the constricted banal of homes successful Sudbury is "already done the roof," and helium doesn't expect location prices to autumn unless tariffs pb to extended occupation losses successful the area.

But a study from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce past period said Sudbury would beryllium the most resilient bigger metropolis successful Canada successful the look of tariffs. 

The enclosure ranked Canada's 41 largest cities connected their vulnerability to U.S. tariffs, compared to the Canadian average.

Sudbury's biggest export is minerals similar nickel and copper, of which astir fractional spell to the U.S. But the remainder are exported to countries similar China, Japan and the Netherlands.

Ritchie said immoderate homes successful Sudbury are selling for arsenic overmuch arsenic $100,000 implicit asking.

Due to constricted supply, helium said, it's not uncommon for a location priced nether $500,000 to pull betwixt 30 and 50 funny buyers.

"We've seen a flood of buyers participate the marketplace mode earlier than we usually would like. We're calling it an aboriginal spring," helium said.

But Ritchie added that the lodging proviso isn't expected to amended nether tariffs, since the costs of gathering materials would increase.

In an email to CBC News, Cambrian College economics professor Mohammad Safavi said tariffs could person "severe affordability consequences" connected northeastern Ontario's lodging market.

"In the abbreviated run, we'll spot accrued costs for goods and services, peculiarly for construction materials similar steel, aluminum, and lumber, which are important for the housing  market. Builders volition look higher costs, and they'll walk those costs onto location buyers and  renters," helium said.

Home income slumped successful January

In an economic outlook published by TD connected Feb. 19, the slope said adjacent the menace of U.S. tariffs appeared to beryllium weighing connected homebuying confidence.

"Sales slumped successful January portion caller listings surged, arsenic buyers were anxious and sellers hurried to database their properties up of imaginable economical softness," the study said.

"The imposition of steep tariffs would wounded occupation markets and dampen user moods, negatively impacting lodging request and location terms growth."

But the outlook said the Bank of Canada would apt chopped involvement rates faster successful a tariff scenario, "providing immoderate offset to the lodging market."